Mars Incorporated has its fingers dipped in almost every conceivable FMCG pie. The conglomerate is a forerunner in the production of confectionery (Snickers, Twix, M&M's, anyone?) food, and drink brands worldwide.

In some of its more advanced markets, Mars counts among the more evolved advertisers. Its campaign for Pedigree, a cheeky suggestion on what parents whose children had left home for good could do with the extra time and space they had on their hands, won a gold in the Integrated category at the Cannes Lions this year, among other trophies.

However, little is known about Mars' absolute dominion over the Indian pet-care space.

With the shift of consumers' preferences for sugary foods to more health-conscious choices, the company has been quick to jump boats while simultaneously diversifying its portfolio. Earlier this year, Mars bought VCA, a veterinary services company, for $9.1 billion, foraying further into the fast-growing pet care business. So, while its chocolate/candy biz is still booming, Mars is also scaling up its other verticals.

Brand Equity caught up with Mohit Arora, head of marketing, Mars Pet Nutrition India to figure out what the company is doing in India with two of its biggest brands- Pedigree and Whiskas. Read on to find out...

According to Mohit Arora, the trick lies in tapping into their distinct personalities.

"Our advertising campaigns change keeping fundamental pet insights in mind. For Pedigree, the campaign is centered around the idea that just like how dogs bring out the best in us, Pedigree brings out the best in them."

"While for cats, the campaign is dressed around the idea that cats are curious by nature, and so, one should feed their curiosity with Whiskas."

Pedigree has also freshly launched a new digital campaign titled #JustPooch that aims to create a pet-o-pedia and "make a better world for pets". Elaborating on the campaign Arora says, "You will be surprised at the number and width of questions pet parents ask on our customer care number, digital search, and social media - right from puppy potty training to why does my dog bark at night, to how do travel with my pooch during holidays? In a category where pet-parents have many questions and queries on what is right for my pet on nutrition and care, we as category leaders want to drive responsible pet ownership."

The woof of Wall Street

While it may be struggling to topple Nestle in the US, In India, Mars is the undisputed market leader in the pet-care category.

However, that could change soon with Nestle India planning to burst into the pet-care arena with its global frontrunning brand- Purina.

Having said that Arora is not worried. "The business has been growing at a robust double-digit compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the past 5 years, Y-o-Y. We spend much higher than the average FMCG (as percentage of sales) behind the brands as the category is in growth mode. We are growing very quickly and we will continue to invest in the category through marketing."

The company also plans to solidify its local growth by opening factories in the country. "We have been working on growing the category for over a decade now. We already manufacture dog dry food from our platinum factory in Hyderabad and we do have plans of producing cat food from our high-quality factory in India soon" reveals Arora.

Meow-keting and catvertising

While cats have been loving pets to humans for centuries, the recent boom of cat videos and GIFs on the internet (Thanks, Buzzfeed) has led to a fresh wave of interest in our feline friends.

"It's exciting to see a new trend of cat adoption amongst our urban youth who want a pet for companionship. Cats as pets are easier to keep and parent as they are fairly independent pets with lower maintenance needs who can be left unsupervised for a couple of hours on their own" says Arora.

The head of marketing also revealed that Whiskas plans to roll out an India-specific advertising campaign for cats centered around “Feeding their curiosity”, soon.

Meanwhile, the company's advertising for dogs is already robust. With over 400 million users in the Pedigree's digital circuit, the brand's consumer media consumption habits are rapidly leaning towards the virtual space.

This explains why the brand's #JustPooch is exclusively an online campaign for pet parents which includes collaboration with some of India’s most renowned Vets, complete with a puppy encyclopedia.

"We look at digital consumers from two lens – Seekers (we target them via search) and Browsers (we target them via Social media and content). With #JustPooch the conversation will largely build on social media platforms and digital print as the dominant media vehicle" explains Arora.

Why e-commerce has pet-tential

Every major e-commerce portal already has a major category dedicated to pet-care, a nod to the evolving pet industry in India.

Arora acknowledges this saying, "E-commerce as a platform is growing rapidly in India, the convenience of home deliveries, discounts and easy access to the internet are some factors fueling e-commerce growth."

According to data provided by Mars, the digital consumer is purchasing as much as 40% to 50% of their daily pet-requirements over e-commerce sites across Asian markets.

Arora wraps up by saying, "At Mars, we will invest in both offline and online, our constant endeavor is on how to provide high-quality food and experience through advertisement, availability and sampling across all channels on which the consumer makes a purchase."